Riveting! Because I knew MLK would be assassinated at the end, I found myself dreading the outcome from the very beginning. Oates does a great job of blatant foreshadowing, amping up the reader's angst. The description of MLK's corpse is numbing, a bit clinical, and powerfully depressing. We lost a true (but admittedly human) hero when MLK was taken from us in 1968. Oates conveys this loss through his serious, grave account of MLK's march toward death.
Admittedly, I'm focusing almost exclusively on the lows. The highs surrounding the "I Have a Dream" speech, the bus boycott and other significant moments in the Civil Rights movement are told in an almost breathless style. Even the retellings of the major moments got me pumped up! A truly inspiring page-turner of a biography. Don't let the length scare you away. Read this book!